


October

by Padafan61



Category: Walker Texas Ranger (TV 2020)
Genre: #NonConImplied(Crime), #SomePottyMouthLanguage, #obligatoryVictimWhoDiesAtTheStart #obligatorycarchase #obligatoryBadGuyForeshadowing #SORRY4THIS, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-08 00:36:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 5,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21467146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Padafan61/pseuds/Padafan61
Summary: AGAIN, NOT A WRITER...just hate backing down from a dare.Let's see if I can write through a series of drabblesto get Walker his "yellow eyed demon."All orig characters will be obsolete once the Professional Show appears, of course.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Jane Armistead walked down 6th Street, happily humming to herself.  
It had been a good evening with friends—she’d even met a decent looking guy at the bar they’d gone to. (Not the usual fuckboi, either, he’d bought her drinks but left without trying too hard to hustle her. Even handed over his number without asking.)  
“Travis,” she smiled, whispering the name into the dark night. “Travis, darlin’ next time’s the time of your life.”

The young blonde had stayed after to listen to music, smiling up into his dark brown eyes.  
But now she needed to catch up to her friends, who’d moved on to a club a few blocks over.

Jane turned as a car pulled over instead of driving by.  
The street was lonely at this hour, but not deserted. Secure enough that she didn’t quite know how to react until it was already too late.  
A man from each direction. An arm around her neck, giving one clean yank to snap it and let her fall.

“Travis, you idiot. I told you not to get involved with the locals.”  
With a slight mutter under his breath, the second man’s hand slid into the prone girl’s pocket.  
“Got it,” he said, retrieving the napkin with his number.  
Half a minute, no more, and the men were back in the car, moving on.


	2. Chapter 2

Walker dozed lightly in the porch swing, his two young sons wrapped alongside him as though they would never let go.  
In truth, it had been too long undercover this last time, and even though he’d come home as frequently as he could, there were effects—both on Walker himself and the boys.

A slight breeze lifted a long strand of hair and gently tickled his face.  
Off in the distance, the ordinary workaday sounds of the farm played on mute as close by the porch floorboards softly creaked.  
For a moment, the enlongated shadow of a man crossed the trio. “Caught you, old man.”

The voice was friendly enough, but nothing was “friendly” or “safe” when it was unexpected and came near his babies.  
Reflexively even from his sleep, Walker shifted them behind and launched himself around.

“Hey! Slow down!” The voice was mingled amusement giving way to a slight edge of pain.  
“Walker….hey, hey, hey-- no man!”

Reining in his instincts, Walker pulled his last punch—thereby saving his opponent’s nose by an inch.  
“Jimmy?”  
By now the boys were wide eyed behind him and the screen door creaked as  
Ada Longtree came out. (More adopted mother than anything else, no one would touch her boys.)  
The sound of a shotgun being cocked made both men turn guiltily and Walker raise his hand.

“It’s ok, Ada, it’s….a friend.”  
A stifled snort of laughter underneath him told Walker that Jimmy wasn’t sure the sharp-eyed woman was buying it.  
Walker half smiled himself and rolled off, standing in one smooth motion and offering Trivette his hand.  
“It’s a friend with a poor sense of timing, though.

“Jimmy, let me introduce you two….and be thankful you didn’t lose your head.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #ObligatoryGovernorNeedsYou
> 
> (Sticking to the Worn Path....because--have I mentioned--I'm not a writer)

“Dinner’s delicious, ma’am.”  
Jimmy Trivette had always known how to charm the ladies, though in this case the older woman was taking her time to warm up.  
“Haven’t had anything this good in a long, long while.”

“Thought that expense account of yours covered every candy ass place in the capitol,” Walker gibed lightly.  
He reached over and, without asking gave Colt more potatoes and the younger Austin an admonishing stare.  
(The boys had grown a foot overnight it felt like, “growing like weeds” his Uncle Ray used to say.)

“The Governor’s office pays well, but there’s nothing that beats home cooked.”  
Ada raised an eyebrow at Jimmy’s flattery, but still nudged the fresh rolls his way.  
“I’ll get dessert for you boys,” she said with the slightest warmth edging into her tone.

“You aren’t going to take Dad away again, are you?”  
Ada might be warming, but Colton still had concerns.

“I’m just here to ask him to help…in town….no leaving….”  
Jimmy’s face crumpled slightly. He loved kids—had never had any of his own, but still couldn’t stand the idea that these two could be hurt.  
“It’ll be alright, guys, promise.” He put every bit of sincerity into his tone as he could, for even something simple as a consult could go six ways from Sunday by chance.

“Go help Miss Ada with the pie, boys.”  
The scramble and bump as they exited made both men smile.

“That older one has your appetite,” Jimmy tried. His former partner had usually been the one to yank his chain, but Trivette was an easy-going sort and soon there’d been a give and take between them.  
Friends for years, forged in fire, though now their career paths had diverged.

“While they’re gone, care to fill me in?”  
Walker’s voice was low and pleasant, but there was still an edge to it. An edge Jimmy understood, but hated to hear.  
“The Governor needs your help,” he began.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just laughed out loud typing "meanwhile...."
> 
> Oh, so many apologies if anyone actually reads these.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, a man held back a curse as a blade raked roughly across his cheek.  
The small line of blood gave way to droplets, the droplets joining the smear of other gashes and droplets already marring his skin.  
“You know I always get what I want.”

Wade Trenton stood partially in the shadows as one of his hirelings took care of the wet work. Not that Wade would’ve minded do some of it himself, just, well, it looked better to the ‘troops’ if he didn’t get his hands dirty on lower level torture such as this.  
And how things looked was important to Wade—managing his operations through appearance and threats as much as actual production. Not that he didn’t produce for those hiring him.  
“Got your buddy’s code and now I’ll get yours.”

Jobs were easier these days. He’d started a few years after 9/ll, working his way up.  
Security was tight and only the nastiest of nasties got through it.  
Now, though, security was a right on cluster fuck.

The man gave way to a scream as the knife angled close to this eye.  
Wade smiled, not minding a bit of torture porn added to his regular programming.  
“We can do this the hard way or the harder way. Either way, man.  
It’s yours to decide.”


	5. Chapter 5

Kimberly Ann Myers strode through the rotunda and up the steps, head high and gaze forward.  
Five feet four, she still looked Big to anyone coming her way—something about her expression, the tilt of her chin, the glint in her eye.  
“I don’t know why they’re pulling me off the street for this,” she muttered to ADA Serena Franks.  
“Three assaults before this one where the victim’s still living. Lots of leads to run down without putting all of us on the one that’s considered ‘high profile’ because of the girl’s connections.”

“Well, she is dead.”  
Serena drawled the last word out, giving Kiki the side eye. Yes, they were called into the Governor because of the victim being a Senator’s daughter. But it still was the most recent in a series of escalating crimes that they thought came from one perp.  
“Point taken,” Myers nodded.  
She still looked like she could chew through metal though. It was time away for bureaucrats on a day when she had none.  
“Here we go.”

They entered the outer office, gave one nod to the executive secretary, who immediately got up and ushered them in.  
A dozen men in power suits remained seated, crestfallen.  
“At least I do love that part,” Kiki muttered, making Serena smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Inside the office, the Governor paced and Walker tried to keep his face neutral.  
From a nearby seat, Jimmy kept shooting him glances to stay calm—which Cordell would have anyway.  
He wasn’t new to the political side of law enforcement after all.  
Some cases rated highest authority because of who’d been attacked. But the Rangers--and Walker in particular--were held back for when Senators themselves had been murdered,  
usually by foreign nationals.

Not that anyone’s attack wasn’t important.  
That thought was what kept him sitting in the chair.  
His wife Alex’s case had been stalled on some City detective’s desk, after all, even though it was clear that the gunman hadn’t acted alone.

This girl was somebody else’s Alex.

“Are you with me, Walker?”  
The Governor stopped, staring.

Fortunately the entrance of two women broke the awkward pause.  
“Serena, good to see you.  
“Walker, this is Austin’s ADA, Serena Franks, and you’ve probably met Ranger Myers?”


	7. Chapter 7

Walker still had that look like he was holding the pieces of himself together, Jimmy noted. (Though only a very close friend like JT could tell.)  
The meeting had gone as expected—everyone making polite mouth noises and agreeing to cooperate.  
Now it was for lunch to drop the final bomb and for Jimmy to run.

“You two will be great together,” Trivette said, as though everyone was already in consensus.  
Kiki had just taken a huge bite of burger  
and her quick look up, still trying to chew and process the implications was….unfortunately cute.  
“Cute” wasn’t a thing Myers cultivated, however, and Jimmy rushed on before she could get a full stream of fury out.

“Well it just makes sense. You two being full partners. That’s what ‘working together’ meant to everyone, right?”

“Riiight,” Walker drawled slowly.  
There were two ways to take this, Jimmy knew—laugh or yell.  
Walker’s lips quirked slightly, a rare dimple showing as though Trivette had got the best prank ever over on his friend.  
Two high level Rangers focused on a rape case, due to political connections.  
“Sex crimes already requested help on the serial part, so I guess if we add in this?”

Myers scowled as she swallowed.  
Before she could get a word out Walker continued, “Course I’m out of the loop right now, so you’ll have to go easy on me.”  
Women were very cautious about the power they’d earned and any man disrespecting it.  
Cordell knew that from Alex.  
(Don’t go there, his mind reminded him.)

“Every Ranger would give their eye teeth to work with you, Walker.”  
Serena’s voice was a sultry low note.  
She’d rushed in to say the right thing, leaning forward and giving both men a smile.  
Beside her, Myers gave the tiniest huff of irritation.  
“Riiight,” she said finally, head tilted to the side.  
There’d been stories about Cordell Walker—some legendary. It wouldn’t hurt to see which ones were true and which were fuss.

“More eyes, faster solve,” she managed, taking another bite.

Criminals she could understand and manage. But bureaucrats who made assignments of partners and cases--they were fiends of another kind.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Kiki is his YOUNGER female partner.  
I read the previews. I just am spit balling & needed a face in my mind.
> 
> Just....adjust.

“We have all of this gathered on the cases in general, then a bulk of tests gone to priority processing for the latest.  
“Scene photos and preliminary autopsy there, though.”

Myers was clutching her oversized mug of coffee like a lifeline.  
It was far too early the next morning and the glances the other Rangers were giving them set her on edge.  
Walker had worked out of the Dallas branch before this, though he’d certainly come to the capitol time and again.  
Even if—in spite of the Governor’s assumption—NOT every ranger was a close friend of every other, they still crossed paths these first two years when Kiki had taken up the badge.  
(And Walker had been and still was on everyone’s radar.  
He was Cordell Walker, after all.)

Kiki sighed and took a large gulp of caffeine as Cordell focused on the screen in front of him.  
He didn’t entirely trust computers, though they did help in sorting through large amounts of information like this.  
But in crime cases the information was only as good as the investigator entering it.  
People got tired and short handed descriptions in ways they thought was clear, but was clear only to them.

“Maybe give me a half hour to review this? Don’t want to waste your time while I scroll.”  
He could feel the woman, bristling with annoyance beside him. (Annoyance he could well understand.)  
“I won’t crash the system, no matter what Trivette’s told you.”

It had been a running gag between friends that Walker was old school.  
And he was. But jokes aside, he didn’t need tech assist to scroll down some files.  
“Make your calls. I won’t be long, but it’s still going to take a few minutes.  
“And I know your time’s valuable.”

Kiki nodded.  
Someone had trained this man better than most.  
She knew he was intentionally playing her, but it was perfectly acceptable to be played if it was done right.  
“Half hour then.”  
The petite ranger stomped away to the elevators, scattering anyone in her path.

“Trivette. You owe me,” Walker muttered.  
But his mouth quirked into another slight grin as he turned back to the screen.  
There was something enlivening about working with younger detectives.  
The good ones had a certain spark.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, gosh. Someone's reading as I'm writing.  
That's not unnerving.  
Nope.  
Not at all.
> 
> (*gulps coffee)

“That’s the code he gave us. If it doesn’t work, it’s your fault.”  
Wade Trenton loomed behind the thin man, his mere presence making him flinch.  
“It’s working. It just isn’t getting us all the WAY in.”  
The man’s slight stammer was irritating.  
“Nothing you can do then?”  
“Not until there’s more information.”

Trenton reached into his pocket and in one smooth movement brought his arm forward and around,  
slitting the man’s throat.  
Tech people were so very irritating. Always promising to be of service, then failing.

“Clean it up,” Wade said to a couple of nearby henchmen as he left.  
Now it was to go find another security breach to exploit.


	10. Chapter 10

“Another one came in while I was on the phone.”  
Myers came clipping quickly through the office to where Walker was finishing up.  
“Another file or another assault?”  
The woman’s color was high and Walker rose to greet her. Whatever she meant, they’d be moving quickly.

“Another assault. This one’s alive and talking, but we’re sure it’s the same guy because of the description.”  
Kiki bounced on the balls of her feet.  
“The detective in charge knows me. We can get in and out before anyone connects it to the Senator’s daughter.  
“No press yet.”

Grabbing his jacket and nodding, Walker followed her toward the elevator.  
It was both sad to have another case giving them clues. Another woman whose life had been altered.  
And yet it was also good news—cracking a case sometimes hinged on something as simple as timing.  
Maybe luck would be with them and they could stop the man  
before there were more.


	11. Chapter 11

“I didn’t…I don’t….I can’t help much.”  
The woman plucked at the sheets of the hospital bed, looking small and vulnerable in her hospital gown.  
Platinum hair, pale skin. White on white.  
Myers sat next to her, having managed to get out the initial question and now nothing more.  
Mutely she nodded, reaching over to take the victim’s hand.

Walker waited a beat before continuing.  
“We’ll take anything you can give us, ma’am, though we know you’ve been through too much to have it all clear.”  
He had taken on rape cases before—usually when his wife had a case where the victim needed someone protective to make them feel safe.  
“We’ll make sure to have someone outside your door the next week or two ‘til we get him behind bars.”

“If it takes that long,” Myers said somewhat crossly, though she knew some cases were never solved at all But the victim didn’t need to know that—not now, before she even got back on her feet.

“Just making what promises I know I’ll keep. We’ll make sure you’re protected and make sure he’s gone.”  
Somehow, Walker put his full conviction into the statement.  
And the look he and the blonde shared made Kiki catch her breath slightly. (DID he believe what he’d just said? How could he say it like he KNEW?)

“He was tall and had a tattoo around his wrist. The first detective thought that might help…”  
The woman’s voice was still weak, but already a bit of color was back in her face.  
“If you get him, he’ll have my teeth marks on him.”  
She actually managed a watery grin at Walker’s murmured “good job.”


	12. Chapter 12

“He handled it better than I could’ve,” Myers admitted, pouring herself a drink and coming to where Serena sat.  
After the interview, she and Walker had gone through actual cartons of evidence on piece at a time.  
Hours of time.  
Walker seeming to almost have a psychic’s ability to suss out missing clues from the objects.  
Kiki huffed irritably. She didn’t BELIEVE in psychics.

“The man IS a legend,” her girlfriend managed, setting aside the case files she’d been working on.  
“Come on. Come here.”

With a slight scowl, Kiki allowed herself to be embraced.  
Serena was her polar opposite—calm where she was irritable, confident where she felt weak. They even looked like two unmatched dolls in a set.

“I’m not that far into the job that I can let him show me up,” she admitted. “He already managed to cross a few things off the list of theories I had.”  
Grudgingly, she took a gulp of her drink.  
“I’d love to say I’ll learn everything he has to teach. Sit at his feet like one of those gurus you love…  
“But it makes me look weak, following him around.”

“Learning never makes a person weak.”  
Serena pitched her voice so it barely tickled Myer’s ear.  
“Besides, anyone who knew what you’ve been through would be amazed you could even handle a case like this.”

A slight catch in her breathing was all Kimberly Ann Myers allowed herself.  
She was a survivor. And survivors were strong.

The two women sat, quietly drinking, watching the fire as it burned brightly on the hearth.  
Each to her own thoughts, but thankfully—having each other—not alone.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks to the season  
it was already dark but Walker wanted to work from home so that he could touch base with the boys.  
Already he’d blown through what should have been dinner followed by the story hour, but the case had its hooks in him.  
Meeting a victim and putting a face to things always did that.  
(That was how his friends talked him into so many charity cases, after all.)

Up the stairs quickly, into the boys’ room.  
Ausie had a foot hanging over the bedframe and looked as if he was fighting tigers in his dreams.  
Walker chuckled in spite of himself, untangling and smoothing the covers.  
“Dad?”  
The soft, half awake voice was so innocent.

“Just me,” he said lightly.  
Small hands grabbed and a noisy kiss was planted before rolling over.  
“S’late.”  
The accusation was made, but the tone was satisfied. 

Walker gave the quilts a last twitch and patted his youngest’s back.

Looking at the lower bunk, Colton’s wide awake smile now greeted him.  
“Miss Ada made us come up, but we knew you’d be home.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If I'm not up to par on plots & such,  
I'm definitely not up to the mark on describing the glory that would be our  
NewWalker in the shower.
> 
> Take a moment & add in your own thoughts to my poor words....  
(also, thank you to the couple of you reading...bless.)

Walker stood under the shower head, allowing the water to course down his face and run through his hair.  
He’d been up late last night, re-evaluating the files he’d given a cursory scan the morning before.  
There had been items omitted from record, just as he’d thought. Moreover, every bit of cloth and fiber told a story and the implications of what was there changed based on its relation to everything around.

He reached down, grabbed the shampoo and lathered up.  
It had that slightly spicy, slightly fruit scent—Alex had started buying him the stuff when they’d been married. And even if Walker himself would have reached for a bar of soap, not caring for niceties, he’d continued to buy it out of habit even after she was gone.

The case, though.  
He shook himself wearily.

Better than any profiler, Walker could tell their attacker wasn’t an ordinary sort.  
The conquests were that of a typical predator, but most of those he’d killed there had been an inordinate amount of angry torture, expertly done.  
So a mad dog with skills.

Walker toweled himself off and headed to the bedroom, a few drops of water still dripping from hair to glide down his tanned skin.

The clock was ticking.  
He’d typed out a description and contacted key personnel with it, looping in Myers as he went.  
Myers. Walker grinned.  
She’d be irritated that he’d worked more hours last night, though every time he’d sent something out she’d messaged back immediately and added more on.  
The woman was a workhorse, he’d swear.  
And full of the kind of piss and vinegar he liked.


	15. Chapter 15

“Partner.”  
“Partner.”  
This time, she nudged an extra container of coffee in his direction.  
He wasn’t sure what had hastened the thawing of her attitude, but thankfully took a gulp.

“Been looking at all the traffic cameras in the area of the last attack,” Myers added, clicking and pointing as screens flashed by.  
“I know you did it for ALL the older cases” (this said with an eyeroll) “but you didn’t have the ones that focused solely on the street level of 6th Street.  
Those are a new protective measure for tourists downtown.”

“So much for privacy,” Walker commented, though he leaned forward gratefully to skim the data gathered.

“Texas isn’t the most liberal state around,” she said guardedly. “Even Austin.”

She took a gulp of coffee and clicked.  
“See this man, here. And here. And then on the date of the last attack, I can almost follow him down the street before he disappears, only to come back with a friend.”

“Hold that screen.”  
Walker had suddenly gone tense. There was something about the second man which was oddly familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.  
Something from years ago, buried in his mind.

Kiki hit enlarge and printed copies, swiveling and laying them on the desk.  
“Someone you know?” she asked hopefully. Surely it wasn’t as easy as that.  
“Not exactly.”  
A range of emotions went across Walker’s face. Alex? The one man somehow reminded him of cases he’d done for Alex….but which ones he didn’t remember right off.

“I’m assuming these went out?”  
“Fifteen minutes ago,” Myers said, smugly. “You were in transit, so I waited to tell you ‘til now.”


	16. Chapter 16

“We have solid leads on the case, including a suspect.  
“We’re also looking for a second man—someone who was a ‘witness’ to the crimes.”

Walker barely controlled a grimace as he listened to the Governor’s flat delivery of the lie.  
The governor was a good man, supportive of the Rangers, but he had become more politician than the lawyer he’d once been.  
His sense of public persona had kicked in, now that the press had their teeth in the story and a statement had to be made.

A murder in their best tourist district wasn’t to be taken lightly.  
“Everything that can be done, will be. The criminals will NEVER win in Texas,” the Governor finished strongly to a scattering of applause from bystanders on the fringes of the press corps gathering.

The steps.  
“Not a good show for ratings if it isn’t right by the entrance,” Walker thought with an edge of cynicism he wouldn’t have had years before.  
Rolling his shoulders and tilting his head to release the neck tension, the tall man followed the dispersing crowd around the corner to where his truck was parked.

“Anything new,” Myers asked sarcastically.  
She’d plain refused to waste the time standing motionless behind the Governor. Instead she was working both phone and computer like the RAM was her office.  
“Everything old.”  
Walker climbed in and revved the engine.  
People continued to wash past as he carefully pulled out, mindful of the crowds.

There, though.  
There, just on the edge of the crowd.  
“Buckle up.”  
That was all the warning he gave Kiki before putting on a burst of speed and hitting the intersection on yellow.  
“What the Hell?” she yipped, giving up on her tablet (now on the floor) and simply hanging on.  
Fumbling fingers finally got the seatbelt to latch.

“Mind telling me what’s going on,” she snapped, scanning the road ahead expectantly.  
“I saw someone who looked like our guy get into a car.”

Walker’s eyes darkened as he focused.  
As much speed as possible, but the safety of civilians still slowed him down. That and the thought that if he could somehow catch eyesight of the quarry again, he could slow to follow—tracking, rather than a high speed chase.  
They needed two men, not just the one.

“Blue Ford. Ahead at the light.”  
The car pushed through with the big truck now gaining ground.  
Walker pulled back on his speed slightly, trying to become an ordinary City “lead foot.”  
Myers began to call the other troops into the chase, coordinating through dispatch.  
“You’d better be right,” she said, but a wide, wild smile split her face.

The Rangers and City officers who’d been guarding the Governor were now zipping around their coordinates like buzzing flies.

“If nothing else, we’ll get him for jaywalking.”  
Walker’s jaw gave away his tension, though, teeth clenching as he slid through yet another light under the wire.  
If anyone was going to be first to catch the man, it’d be them. (Good to have back up, though.)


	17. Chapter 17

“Why isn’t Travis back?”  
The men before him stood silent, not sure how to answer Trenton’s demand.  
“I sent him over an hour ago.”

Finally looking up from the screen of engineering diagrams, he grimaced.  
So hard to get good help these days.  
“I guess I’ll find him myself.”


	18. Chapter 18

Things were going fairly well, given Austin’s traffic and the blue Ford’s insistence on making turns at the end of a light.  
Walker kept a steady pace, eyes gone steely, only an occasional glance to this right to check and make sure Kiki was keeping the grid up to date.

A small child pulling her mother along by hand through the intersection caused the Ranger to stomp on his brakes hard.  
“They got it. They got it. Cars are going around to the sides,” Myers muttered, a hand roughly pushing back a short tuft of hair. “We can pick them up a block over.”

The two shared a quick look of concern.  
Neither wanted left out of the take down, neither wanted anyone else—especially a non-Ranger—being first to ask questions and judge the response.

The intersection cleared of civilians, Walker punched the gas and roared on.  
With the car out of sight, he dared be a bit more aggressive and conspicuous in his driving—swerving in and out of lanes and barreling along.  
The sound of a siren cut in from the west. “They wouldn’t,” Myers groaned, looking up from her screen where the blips showed approximate location.

“We’ll know in a minute,” Walker bit off, rounding a corner on two wheels.  
Ahead already they could see a flash of lights—City cops, pulled into the chase & having obviously felt the need to end it.

“Well, at least we see why.”  
The blue ford was half up on a construction divider, tipping precariously.  
Around it, various law officials were forming a circle, guns drawn.

“Well, if we can’t follow him to his partner, at least we can try to get this One.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #TriggerWarning

The two jumped down from the Ram, smoothly drawing and cocking their guns.  
“He caught sight of us and took off suddenly, rounding into….well, there.”  
The Austin cop was large and had a certain formidable swagger, but he knew this was not the intended result.  
“Our guy didn’t hit the box until after. Wasn’t our fault, just a jumpy perp.”

Walker pressed his lips into a tight smile. No use crying over spilled milk; he’d known that since he was a child.  
Things rarely went the way you planned in life—work or otherwise.  
“We’ve just…” he started, as a head popped out of the car window.  
A head.  
A shoulder.  
“We’ve got a gun!”

The shout was to Walker’s right, but the response was instantaneous.  
Unlike Cordell, most law enforcement officers followed a protocol—gun gets pointed at you and you shoot back. (It was designed to save lives, Walker understood it, even as he usually ignored it.)  
A fuselage erupted.  
Only half a minute, maybe less, but it seemed a much longer time.

“DAMMIT,” Kiki Myers snapped when the sound stopped.

“Not going to get anything out of questions,” Walker agreed drily, as one after another, cops ran toward the suspect’s body.  
“Whatever the other guy had to do with it, he’s gone now.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein, I need to leave the YED/villain lurking,  
having satisfied my mental itch & needing to cook lunch.
> 
> I have in mind CD's brother owning an ATX bar & a slow burn love for our poor widower, but that'd take a REAL writer & a season or more.  
Can't do it all....

“Congratulations, Walker. The Governor can’t stop smiling.”  
Jimmy slid into the booth next to Kiki, nudging her slightly and stealing a fry.

“Not the right result, but the one that works for right now,” his friend frowned, looking down into his whiskey. (Honestly, could the administration be as tone deaf as that?)

“Hey, the other girls didn’t even mention our second guy, so that closes those case files,” Myers noted, smacking Jimmy’s hand lightly and defensively moving her plate.

“There is that.”  
Walker nodded and took a sip, savoring.  
Something, though, something about that other man made him more than a one-time accomplice.  
If he could only remember. (Then again, remembering hurt.)

“Did they ever figure out those papers?”  
The man had been identified through fingerprints as a local criminal, who’d worked his way up to a fairly expensive crowd.  
But he was usually nothing more than a thug.  
Meanwhile, when his car was searched, they’d found various documents and schematics—all public record, but flipping the usual switches that read “attack concern.”

“A man with a plan,” Jimmy shrugged. “Kind of mysterious. In fact, since you did such a good job together, maybe you two should…”  
“Don’t,” Kiki and Cordell managed to speak one over the other.  
Jimmy laughed.  
“I’m just saying,” he managed, chuckling, signaling the waitress to add his order to the rest.  
“There’s something there and neither of you are going to let it loose anyhow.”

__  
As the three sat, discussing the ins and outs of the day, outside the window Wade Trenton stood—having found why his man was missing and beginning to hunt his enemies down.  
“Walker,” he said under his breath, cheek twitching slightly.  
“Well, Texas Ranger, it’s been a long time.”


End file.
